Fall-blooming Crocus Continue for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day December 2012

Yes, it’s true. The fall-blooming crocus I wrote about for last month’s Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day are still blooming. Some of the pale ones came up and are trying to bloom, thanks to a series of unseasonably warm days.

The pale yellow autumn crocus are attempting to bloom, as well as one valiant Helleborus niger

The leaves of the pale ones emerge simultaneously with the flowers, so all the grass-like crocus leaves that you see are probably C. cartwrightianus ‘Albus’. As always, you can click on any photo to enlarge it.

Here’s a better shot of the Christmas rose. Couldn’t find the tag.

There are a few Johnny-jump-ups blooming in a hunkered down fashion.

Click to enlarge

I also have a bloom inside the house. A flowering tobacco seeded into my pot of rosemary. Rosemary, of course, isn’t hardy in my climate and I bring the rosemary indoors every winter. This flowering tobacco plant was growing in the container last winter and may have been there even longer, I can’t remember. I never pulled it out because I was just curious to see what it would do. It has bloomed when outdoors but I always cut it back to the rosette of leaves when I bring it in for the winter and this is the first time it has bloomed indoors. Three blossoms–how about that?

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About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She would be delighted to speak to your group about colchicums or other gardening topics. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002.

This weird weather makes our blooming rationales very difficult. Once I realized that these warm winters are encouraging the survival and dispersal of pests like the emerald ash borer I pray for zero temperatures. None in sight.

Yes, we usually do have snow on the ground by now. As to the crocus, in another comment I mentioned that I planted them late, and suspected that is why they are still blooming. It will be interesting to see how they behave next autumn.

Well, I think it gets a lot colder at night than it does in Zone 7, and we had our first frost a lot sooner than would be typical in Zone 7, and will probably have our last frost a lot later. So, no, it’s not turning into Zone 7, it’s turning into a different kind of Zone 4 or 5. But since this is the first year I planted these crocus, and I planted them later than the included cultural directions advised, I’m not at all sure this is typical for these autumn-blooming crocus. Only time will tell.

As to the fragrance, if I stick my nose right on the flower and inhale deeply, I detect a faint whiff. They were more fragrant outdoors in summer.